Libby Hanssen

August 31, 2018

Concert to Come: Beethoven’s Triple Concerto

Kansas City Symphony opens its 2018-2019 season fusing dance inspiration and musical eloquence with festive flourish, but it’s a season marked by significant changes ahead for the organization. Along with Aaron Jay Kernis’ “New Era Dances” and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances,” the opening concert features three soloists on Ludwig van Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, op. 56.

August 29, 2018

A Stimulating Season for Music Lovers

Rest well, classical music fans. You will need your strength to get through this eclectic season provided by Kansas City’s cultural organizations. Fortunately, there is plenty of stimulation in the community’s vibrant offerings. First off, we noticed an uptick in representation of women throughout the year. Concerts devoted to the works of women pepper the season, but more importantly, works by women are integrated in the programming, accounting for fewer token, and more sustainable, appearances.

July 30, 2018

The Job: Christy Elsner

“If you’re not sweating you’re not working.” That sounds like something a spin class instructor might say, but it’s a popular phrase from Christy Elsner, founder and artistic director of Allegro Choirs of Kansas City, a community-based children’s choir. However, laughter and enthusiasm were the two defining takeaways after talking with Elsner. “It’s always an adventure,” she said.

July 16, 2018

Honors: Laurel Gagnon

Laurel Gagnon attracted local and international attention when she placed fourth in the Singapore International Violin Competition in January.

July 11, 2018

Gerald Trimble: Sharing Diverse Cultures Through Music

To listen to Gerald Trimble on viola da gamba is to whirl through the centuries, a cascade of cultures, countries and influences coalescing into a unique sound with ancient roots. Trimble is a wizard, weaving spells on the knee fiddle. Or perhaps an alchemist, mixing the improvisatory styles of Celtic, Turkish and Indian traditions with 17th-century English baroque and American jazz.

May 21, 2018

Heartland Men’s Chorus Production Ponders the Identity of the Unknown Soldier

In 1921, Sergeant Edward F. Younger stepped into a room with four flag-draped coffins, filled with the remains from four American soldiers, each from a..

May 14, 2018

Arts News: Central Library Exhibit Collects Wishes

The whole idea started with a rock. “THIS ROCK GRANTS WISHES,” written on the side, a tangible, weighty object infused with mythical promise. “I picked..

May 3, 2018

Pianist Ran Dank Returns for the Kansas City Symphony’s Season Finale

Wrapping up its A Century of Bernstein celebration, the Kansas City Symphony’s season finale is an ambitious double bill: Leonard Bernstein’s “The Age of Anxiety” and Hector Berlioz’ “Symphonie Fantastique.” “The Age of Anxiety (Symphony No. 2 for piano and orchestra) (After W. H. Auden),” to give the work its full title, is based on Auden’s 1948 Pulitzer Prize-winning book-length poem, “The Age of Anxiety: A Baroque Eclogue.”

May 1, 2018

Concert to Come: Kansas City Contemporary Music Festival

The Kansas City Contemporary Music Festival, now in its second year, brings together some of the region’s premier new music practitioners for a post-genre celebration during May’s First Fridays. The festival runs from 5 to 9 p.m. in the third-floor event space of the Bauer, the rehabbed warehouse warrened with artists’ studios and gallery spaces, a central hub for an evening of gallery stalking and art gazing.

Author: Libby Hanssen